But in so good of shape that the Rams’ top options both ways entered May undefeated with the Class A state meet fast approaching?

That’s another level, and Central — chasing a second outright team state championship in three seasons (and first since 2022) — is reaping the rewards.

Led by phenomenal freshman Alisa Shevtcova in singles and the experienced duo of Evie Reck and Billie Cate Schmitt in doubles, the Rams’ front line is as good as any set of Nos. 1 in the state as each are counting down the weeks until Class A state — scheduled to be held from May 23-24 in Kalispell — where all three are hoping to have first-place finishes.

Meanwhile Lee, as she did when both played Saturday morning during the championship bracket of the Mayfair Invite at Rose Park, is watching and guiding both, admiring and supporting the firepower she has in her arsenal.

“I kind of probably had an idea (they’d be good) before even the season started,” Lee said. “Obviously, I knew my doubles team was coming back, and I knew about Alisa coming in, as well. So I knew I was going to have strong ones.

“I’m definitely looking forward to seeing what they’re doing at the divisional tournament and then again at the state tournament, and just looking forward to seeing a lot of good tennis.”

While Lee has been working with the upperclassman doubles squad of Reck (a senior) and Schmitt (a junior) for some time now, this season is her first time officially coaching Shevtcova, though the coach knew about her and the hype surrounding her well before she ever played a high school match.

Born in Russia, Shevtcova and her family immigrated to the United States when she was a year old, settling in Arizona at first before moving to Billings when she was in sixth grade. Once she got into the Magic City’s tennis scene, she started immediately turning heads as a middle-schooler. Lee said that in practice games as a sixth-grader, Shevtcova wasn’t just defeating Central’s top boys at that time, but dominating them by huge margins.

That trend hasn’t stopped in her freshman season this year as she’s yet to lose a match, and against reigning Class A third-place finisher Alina Kot of Miles City — who Lee said was Shevtcova’s “best challenge” to date — in the Mayfair girls singles semifinals Saturday morning, the Rams’ No. 1 still won by a comfortable 6-1, 6-2 margin. Playing Livingston’s Tess Cocotos (one half of the 2022 Class A doubles state championship pairing) in the final later in the day, Shevtcova blanked her 6-0, 6-0.

Quiet and reserved off of the court, Shevtcova’s instincts and athleticism on it spoke loudly enough, though she did rattle off a couple of her goals — including winning a state championship and aspirations to play Division I tennis — shortly after taking care of business against Kot.

“I just try to focus on each point … it’s a different level then like national tournaments, so I really have to focus on not just losing free points,” Shevtcova said. “I think I’m very strong mentally, like I don’t really get mad or anything if I lose. … I’m trying to work on not losing free points, like getting every shot in, all my serves, all my returns.”

“She truly has taken over in Class A,” Lee said of Shevtcova. “About three years ago, I think, she took our No. 1 (boys) player out … she just took him out and gave him a whooping and beat him like 8-1 or 8-2 in a pro set. It was definitely something I knew I was going to be looking forward to.”

As Shevtcova romps through Class A, Central’s top doubles pairing is currently doing the same, though they had to go through a little bit of heartbreak at the state meet first.

Reck and Schmitt, paired together in last season’s Class A state doubles tournament, made it to the semifinals before being sent to the consolation bracket after a loss to Dillon’s eventual state champion team of Rachel Fluckinger and Eden Kindberg. The Rams’ duo eventually rebounded to place third — and has stormed out of the gates this season with vengeance on their minds.

Having wins over doubles teams from all three Billings Public School rivals (Senior, Skyview and West), Reck and Schmitt are rolling and chemistry is at an all-time high between them, they said, almost as if they can tell what each other is thinking mid-match. 

Their hopes for an unbeaten season ended in the Mayfair girls doubles final Saturday as Hardin’s Taiya Guptill and Johanna Limberhand defeated them 6-4, 7-6 (6), but they are still undoubtedly in the hunt for hardware down the line in Kalispell.

“We’ve kind of grown not only as a whole team, but like me and Evie especially as doubles partners, we’ve grown together,” Schmitt said. “We play together really well. We’ll switch up things and just both know what’s going on without even having to verbally communicate it.”

“They did some lessons together as a team outside of practices with us,” Lee said of her No. 1 doubles team. “They played in some tournaments, as well, they played in Big Sky State Games last year and just have gotten some more experience playing together. … We’ll have them go out and hit with our boys just to be able to hit with some harder-hitting people and they’ve made a lot of improvements, especially within their strategy.”

Lee said that the goal for the Rams’ girls team is the state championship trifecta of singles, doubles and team titles, noting that she’s had a singles player and a doubles team place second in past state meets. 

If Shevtcova and the Schmitt/Reck team can continue to play dominant tennis for the remainder of the season, those high hopes may very well be in the Rams’ grasp.

“Just being able to come up with one of those individual wins would be pretty incredible, I think,” Lee said. “If they work for it and they bring their best game to it, I do truly believe that they can take home both of those titles.”